A British diplomat leapt into a river in southwest China and rescued a drowning student over the weekend, Britain's embassy in Beijing and Chinese state media said.

Ensuring the availability of safety equipment in home swimming pools safeguards children and reduces drowning accidents, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) has advised.

Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) on Saturday stressed the importance of community members taking necessary measures and precautions when visiting beaches and swimming pools, in order to avoid the risk of drowning.

With 15 incidences of near-drowning and two fatalities recorded so far this year at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC)'s Paediatric Emergency Centres, HMC has reminded parents and caregivers about the importance of water safety.

Two dragon boats practising to race on a river in China have overturned and 17 people drowned, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.

A frail Romana Canete, 37, tearfully asked the court in Bordeaux for "forgiveness" at the end of her trial this week, saying it had "reopened terrible and cruel memories."

The 54-year-old actress, known simply as Sridevi, died on Saturday. The cause was initially reported to be cardiac arrest.

Thirty-five migrants, including seven children, were feared drowned after their inflatable boat sank on Saturday off the Libyan coast, the coastguard said.

An 11-year-old girl drowned on Tuesday after falling into a river in northern Pakistan while attempting to take a selfie and her parents also died trying to save her, officials said.

Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has reminded families to pay attention to their children’s safety around swimming pools, the sea and other sources of water, including those at home.

Tragedy struck a group of picnickers on Thursday after one of them drowned while bathing in the sea near Khor al Udeid, sources said.

A college picnic to the beach turned into a tragedy yesterday when at least 14 students drowned off Maharashtra’s coast after they went swimming, police and officials said.